Company days, small board retreats, team building and family gatherings can be organized at the Domaine de Pied Flond, a family wine estate in Terranjou, in the village of Martigné-Briand, in the heart of the Coteaux du Layon. The estate builds each day around a privately booked room, an activity in the vines, a meal and a tasting, and it can host a small management team overnight in its renovated manor. It suits groups that want a quiet, hands-on day rather than a large conference.
Seminars and company events
The business offer has three parts. The first is a private room with equipment for working sessions. The second is team building in the vines, led by the estate's signature activity: a ride through the vineyard on vintage Solex mopeds, followed by a tasting in the cellar, which the estate can turn into a team challenge. The third is a meal by a local caterer, served indoors or outdoors, as a lunch or a breakfast, with food and wine pairings from the estate.
The estate stresses that the room, the activity, the meal and the wines all happen on site, so there is no coordination between several suppliers. Each day is built for the group's objectives and size. The cottages also have areas set up for video conferencing, and the Logis is described as suited to small management committees, with twin beds in every room.
Weddings and receptions
The estate does not host evening wedding parties. It welcomes wedding photo sessions, drinks receptions and daytime ceremonies. Quiet is requested from 9 p.m. and loud music is not allowed, which also applies to company evenings.
Rooms and capacities
The estate does not publish a guest number for its reception room. The Réfectoire des Vendangeurs, the former grape pickers' dining hall next to the old bread oven, has a large dining room with two tables and benches and an equipped kitchen. It opens onto the outdoor area, with a pétanque court, wooden games, garden furniture, a barbecue and vintage bicycles, and the estate presents it as the place for larger receptions. The whole site, with both cottages, the Réfectoire and the grounds, can be booked privately.
Accommodation
Two cottages occupy the family manor, fully renovated. Le Logis sleeps 8 in four bedrooms, two of them suites, each with its own shower room and toilet, plus a lounge, a dining room and a kitchen. L'Ancien Dortoir des Vendangeurs, a studio of 40 square meters with a mezzanine, sleeps 4 to 6. Guests have access to a Nordic bath in the vineyard at no extra charge. The buildings are not accessible to wheelchair users.
Catering
Meals are prepared by a local caterer chosen by the estate and served with the estate's wines, including Anjou Blanc, Anjou Rouge, Coteaux du Layon and Saumur Brut sparkling wines.
History and setting
The manor stands on a former lordship built in falun stone in the fifteenth century, which once had machicolations, a moat and a chapel. It entered the family in 1864, and in the 1930s it was remodeled into a house with a south-facing facade and a tower with a stained-glass window. Franck and Catherine Gourdon, the seventh generation, now farm 25 hectares of vines on sandstone and schist.
Getting there
The estate is in Terranjou, Martigné-Briand, 49540. It is about 30 minutes from Angers, Cholet and Saumur, and 1 hour 30 from Nantes.
